8 Best Sights in Alice Springs, Red Centre

Focusing on the desert, which makes up 70% of the Australian landmass, this 128-acre site contains 92 types of plants and 37 animal species in several Australian ecosystems—including the largest nocturnal-animal house in the southern hemisphere. An open-air habitat is also open at night, when animals are most active. At daily presentations, Aboriginal guides discuss the different plants and animals that have helped people traditionally survive and thrive in such an arid desert environment. Don't miss the twice-daily birds of prey presentation at 9 am and 3 pm. Allow about four hours to explore the park, which is located about 7 km (4 miles) west of downtown Alice Springs.

The most distinctive building in this complex is the Museum of Central Australia (A$8 entry), which charts the evolution of the land and its inhabitants—human and animal—around central Australia. Exhibits include a skeleton of the 10½-foot-tall Dromornis stirtoni, the largest bird to walk on earth, which was found northeast of Alice. Also in the precinct are the Aviation Museum (free), Central Craft (free, prices for workshops vary), and Araluen Arts Centre, home to the Araluen Art Galleries and the Namatjira Gallery (A$8 entry), a collection of renowned Aboriginal landscapes, and the Yeperenye Scuplture—a 3-meter-high caterpillar that you can walk through, representing the sacred Dreamtime creator of the country around Alice Springs. The precinct is located 2.4 km (1½ miles) southwest of town, and is on most tourist bus itineraries. The on-site theater has regular screening and events.

The Kangaroo Sanctuary is the passion project of Chris “Brolga” Barns, whose life’s mission is to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned kangaroos and educate people about how they can easily do the same—all you need to do is pay attention while you’re driving, and if you spot a deceased kangaroo on the side of the road, check to see if there’s still a living joey in its pouch, since they’ll often survive the impact of a vehicle and can live for up to four more days after it. Your ticket includes door-to-door transfers (no one is allowed to drive straight to the property), a 2½- to 3-hour tour, and gives you a chance to take turns holding baby kangaroos and feed Roger, Brolga’s marsupial costar in the popular BBC documentary series Kangaroo Dundee, who started it all.

Thorny devils, frill-neck lizards, some of the world's deadliest snakes, and "Terry" the saltwater crocodile inhabit this park in the heart of town, opposite the Royal Flying Doctor Service. From May to August, viewing is best from 11 to 3, when reptiles are most active. There's also a gecko cave and free talks conducted daily at 11, 1, and 3:30, during which you can handle small critters and pick up pythons.

What do children who live hundreds of miles from the nearest school do for education? Find out at this informative visitor center, which harbors a working school within its walls. Discover how distance education has been delivered to the country's most remote parts since 1951; from pedal-operated radio systems to interactive online classes, it's come a long way. During your visit you may have the opportunity to watch a live lesson being taught in one of our studios; outside school hours, you can see a recorded lesson.

Entry is free at Lasseters Casino, where the action goes late into the night with more than 300 slot machines, plus blackjack, roulette, craps, and baccarat tables. Choose from six restaurants and bars, each with its own style ranging from exotic eats at Tali to tapas at Tempo. The Juicy Rump is known for live music, Stadium 93 for its sports bar atmosphere. The Goat & Bucket is a beer lover's paradise, while Casbah is perfectly positioned should you need a break from betting.

This much-visited tourist attraction in Alice Springs has a theater, interactive displays, and a full-scale replica of the fuselage of the service's current Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The site has long been the radio base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which directs doctors (using aircraft) on their house calls to remote settlements and homes hundreds of miles apart, making it a vital part of Outback life. The center features historical displays, a holographic audiovisual show portraying RFDS founder Reverend John Flynn, tours that run every half hour throughout the year, and a lovely café at the back.

This fascinating museum—which happens to be housed in the Old Alice Springs Gaol simply because it’s a historic building—tells the stories of the brave, strong women of the Red Centre, with exhibits showing the important role women played during WWII, and how women of all races helped shape Australian politics, education, medicine, aviation, sports, and pretty much every aspect of today’s society. You’ll also be able to tour the old jail, which began as a prison for both sexes but became an all-male prison in the 1980s, and hear the stories of its former inhabitants through an interactive audio display.